Veteran policeman dead after stroke

Capt. James Becton was a policeman to his core, his colleagues say.

And when he joined the New Bern Police Department in 1974, he intended to stay a while. For 32 years he was part of the city's force, working his way through the ranks and gaining a reputation as one of the most thorough investigators. He retired in 2006, but that didn't mean he turned off his instincts.

"There's this one case, a rape-homicide case, that he couldn't solve, and it never left him," Police Chief Frank Palombo said. "He just always kept his ear to the ground for information about that case, because years went by and there were questions still unanswered. He never turned it off - that need to know what happened.

"Because of his urgings and the information that he got, that case has fresh leads," Palombo said Sunday. "He always wanted the city to be better, to be safer, and even at this moment, we owe him so much."

Becton died on Independence Day, four months after suffering a stroke. He was 56.

"We leaned on each other like brothers," said Alderman Robert Raynor, who grew up in the same New Bern neighborhood as Becton. "We are both analysts of things, so we fed off each other that way. I think a whole lot of decisions we made, we talked through together, because we understood each other and where we came from."

They also shared passion for photography and smooth jazz.

"I can remember when he showed me his first camera, and it was Pentax, whereas I had a fancy Minolta," Raynor said. "But he just kept focusing on that hobby and developing it until he became one of the finest photographers in the region. He left me in the dust."

In January, Becton was chosen to attend the inauguration of Barack Obama. He was part of the People's Inaugural Project, an effort sponsored by the Stafford Foundation to include the poor and underprivileged in the festivities. Becton was to be an escort of New Bern resident Carrie Godette, who fell ill.

But Becton made it to Washington, D.C., and called that moment one of the highlights of his life.

"People are just gathered around; it's like a big love fest," he said in an interview with the Sun Journal then. "It's absolutely electric."

Mayor Tom Bayliss said he was always struck by Becton's easy laugh that was "loud enough to fill a room."

"Oh, he had a sense of humor on him, there's no doubt about that," Bayliss said. "He was just a great human being and a good friend and you could tell that he loved the Lord. When somebody like him just leaves you like this, it is nothing short of tragic."

Raynor, who has not missed a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner at the Becton household in nearly 10 years, said he feels "sort of lost."

"I just don't know what to do with this," Raynor said. "I don't know how to handle it. The world has lost a good man, an honest man and a fair man. And the city has lost a real champion."

Nikie Mayo can be reached at (252) 635-5665 or nmayo@freedomenc.com.